Circulating water-bar grate



(No Model.)

LLREAGAN. CIRUULATING WATER BAB. GRATE.

No. 459,342.. Patented Sept. 8,- 1891.

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JAMES REAGAN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CIRCULATING WATER-BAR GRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,342, datedSeptember 8, 1891.

Original application filed March 20, 1891, Serial No. 385,762. Dividedand this application filed July 16, 1891. Serial No. 399,788.

( No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES REAGAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCirculating W'ater-Bar Grates; and l do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

My invention has relation to circulating water-bar grates connected tothe boiler, and to a feed or supply of the form in which the feed-watercirculates through the grate to the boiler, and when the feed is cut olfan automatic circulation from the boiler to and through the grate backto the boiler is effected; and it has for its objects to provide adivided feed for the grate, one being partly from the boiler and theother from the pump or injector, afeed from the grate to the boiler,which feed is discharged into the boiler at its top below thewater-line, so as not to chill its bottom, for blowing off the scum orforeign matter at the water-line of the boiler from its top through thegrate in a direction the reverse of the line of feed to the boiler, sothat the sediment in the grate can at the same time be also blown off,for separately blowing off the sediment at the bottom of the boilerwithout passing through the grate, for avoiding all back-pressure fromthe boiler to the pump or injector, and when the feed is cut oif for anautomatic circulation of water from the boiler to and through the grateback to the boiler being effected to keep the gratebars full of waterand prevent their burning out.

My invention accordingly consists of the combinations, constructions,and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter described in thespecification, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is anelevation, partly perspective, of a furnace and boiler having water bargrate and pipe connections with valves and check-valves between theboiler, grate, feed, and blow-off pipes embodying myinvention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of grate, showing end bearing-bars composedof hollow sections or couplings bolted together. Fig. 3 is a section online l l, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of arrow 2 and showing inelevation the rear end bearing-bar for the grate; and Fig. 4 is a likeview on said line l 1, looking in the direction of arrow 3 and showingin elevation the frontend bearing-bar for the grate. 4

A indicates a boiler; B, the fire-box, and C the water-bar orcirculating grate, which may be of any suitable or desired construction,with or without shaking devices interposed between the water-bars. Thewater-bars of the grate, as more plainly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and4, havetheir ends connected by sectional hollow boxes or couplings c c, havingend flanges c2, through which pass bolts cS for connecting said boxes`together to form front and rear end bearing-bars C2 C', respectively,composed of sectional hollow couplings or boxes bolted together. Thebolting of said sections together makes the end bearing-bars stiff tosupport the water-bars and avoids expansion of said boxes out of linewith each other to disarrange the level of the grate. The latter has aninlet and an outlet-water bar D and D2, respectively, which pass throughend sections or boxes c of the front bearing-bar C2. Said sections,while hollow to lessen the weight of met-al, have no connection with thewater-line through the grate, and theyare used for supporting the bars DD2 and for end support for the bearing-bar G2, the small arrows in Fig.2 showing the line of feed or circulation through the grate. The bars DD2 preferably project through the front wall of the furnace; but theymay otherwise be located, as desired. The inletwater bar D is coupledwith the feed-pipe E,

lhaving a branch e provided witha checkvalve e', which closes underpressure from the boiler, said branch pipe e leading to the feed-pump orinjector. check e in pipe c prevents the pump or injector being subjectto back-pressure from the boiler, as will be hereinafter explained.

VThe upper end c2 of pipeE leads to the bottom of the boiler, as shownat e3, and is provided with a cut-off valve c4, which is nor- Theprovision of the IOO mally open, and also with a check-valve e5, whichopens with pressure from the boiler and closes under feed-water pressurefrom the pipe e. Said check-valve e is preferably located between thecut-off valve el and the boiler. The outlet-water bar D'2 is coupled toa pipe F, having a cut-off valve f, and said pipe leads to the top ofthe boiler, just below its water-line preferably, as shown at f', so asto be preferably always below the top of the water-line in the boiler.Said pipe F has a branch or bleeder f2, provided with a normally-closedcheck-valve f3, and said branch f2 is preferably doubled upon itself andled or conducted to the ash-pit'or other position, as indicated at f4,so that any steam or air escaping from the check f3 is conveyed by pipef4 to the ash-pit or other desired place.

The end f of pipe F leads into the boiler some distance, preferably tobeyond the bridge-wall or the line thereof, as indicated by the dottedlines f. The valve f in pipe F, like the valve e4 in pipe E, is alwaysnormally open.

In feeding water to the grate and from thence to the boiler thevariations in the pump, or when the injector is run at a slow speed,which is usually the case, causes the check e5 to have a to-and-fro orwave-like movement to admit water from the bottom of the boiler throughthe check to meet and commingle with the feed-water from the pipe ebefore such water is forced into the grate. The feed for the latter istherefore a divided one, part being from the pump or injector and partfrom the bottom of the boiler, and it is more or less hot beforeentering the grate, wherein it is still further heated and passes `byway of pipe F to the top of the boiler to just below its water-line,where it is ready to burst into steam, if it has not already done so. Ifnot, it is of a high temperature and does not fall to the bottom of theboiler, and as the feed-water for the latter is not forced therein atits bottom it is not chilled, as is the case when such bottom issubjected to a cold or hot Water feed. Hence the water on the bottom ofthe boiler is always subject to the full heat-units of the furnace, andan economy in fuel is obtained. The check f3 in branch pipe f2 isprovided to permit air and steam to escape from the grate-pipes, andthus avoid the formation therein of air or steam traps and also thetrappingf of water which would obstruct the free circulation through thegrate. By closing the valve e4 in pipe E and opening valve e'7 in pipee6 the boiler is blown off from its top through the grate reversely tothe line of its feed and all scum or other foreign matter at thewater-line of the boiler or its top, as well as the sediment in thegrate, is blown off. By opening cock e4 and closing cock f the bottom ofthe boiler is blown off from or through the pipe e2 without passingthrough the grate. By alternately opening and closing cocks f and e4 theboiler is blown off from its top and bottom while in use or fired up,and to prevent the steam from the boiler filling the grate duringblowing off the cocks f and e4 are both opened near the con-4 clusion ofthe blowing-off operation in order to admit of the top and bottom of theboiler being blown off simultaneously. It will be noticed, therefore,that as the grate is the lowest part of the boiler the sediment in thegrate and the scum or other foreign mattei' at the top of the` boilerare blown off through the grate reversely to its line of feed and thebouttom of the boiler or its sediment orgrounds 1s blown off withoutpassing through the grate; that such described operations are effectedwhile the boiler is in action without blowing the water out of the grateat the end of the blow-offl operation, thereby avoiding all danger ofburning out the grate after such operation. When the feed from pipe e iscut off, the check in the latter closes to prevent backpressure from theboiler upon the pump or injector, and the check e5 fully opens toprovide for an automatic circulation of the water from the boiler to andthrough the grate back to the boiler to keep water in the grate toprevent it burning out and to utilize the heat of the same, suchcirculation being provided for by reason of the end f of pipe F beingbelow the top of the water-line of the boiler. The grate and boilertherefor are always kept clean and the formation of scale is avoided, sothat said parts are always in the best possible condition to utilize allthe heat-units for the generation of steam, and thereby resulting in aneconomy in the use of fuel.

The foregoing invention is a division of application filed by me March20, 1891, Serial No. 385,762, for improvements in circulating water-bargrates.

l. In combination with a water-bar grate having inlet and outlet ends,pipe connections between said inlet end and the bottom of the boiler, anormally-open cut-off and a checkvalve in said pipe connection, closingagainst the feed and opening with the boiler-pressure, a feed-pipeconnected with the boiler and said check, said feed-pipe provided with acheck closing against the boilerpressure, a pipe connection between saidoutlet-pipe and the water-line of the boiler and having a cutoff and abranch pipe with check normally closed, and a blow-off-pipe connectionfor the inlet-pipe of the grate and its pipe connection with the bottomof the boiler, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the boiler A, waterbar grate C, pipe E for theinlet end of the grate, having blow-off e, with valve e7, feedwater pipec, with check e', check e5, cut-off e4 and leading to the bottom of theboiler, and pipe F for the outlet end of the grate, having cut-off f andleading to the top of the boiler, so as to be below the water-line, andhaving a branch f2, with check f3, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a boiler, awater-bar IOO IIO

ISO

grate, pipe connections between the boiler and grate, and the feed-waterpipe with cutoffs and check-valves, arranged as shown, whereby a dividedfeed, partly from the pump and partly from the boiler, is fed to thegrate, the water from the grate being fed to the top of the boiler belowits water-line, the boiler being adapted to be blown oft from its top toremove scum therefrom and sediment from the grate, and also beingadapted to be blown off from its bottom, and when the feed is cut offhaving an automatic circulation between the boiler and the grate.

4. The combination of a boiler, a water-bar grate having inlet-pipe D',outlet-pipe F, pipe E, coupled to said pipe D', having blowoff pipe e6,feed-pipe e, with check e', seating with pressure from the boiler, andcheck e5,

seating with the pressure from the feed-Water device and cut-off e4 andleading into the boiler near its bottom, substantially as shown.

5. The combination of a boiler, a water-bar grate having a divided feedfor said grate partly from the feeding device and partly from theboiler, and a feed from the grate to the boiler, which feed is conductedinto the boiler near the top of its water-line, substantially as setforth.

6. The combination of a boiler, a water-bar In testimony whereof I affixmy signature in v grate, pipe connections between the boiler and thegrate, the feed-water pipe with cutoffs and check-valves arranged asshown, and ablow-off pipe whereby the scum and otherforeign matter atthe top of the boiler and the sediment in the grate are blown offthrough the grate reversely to the line or path of its feed-water andthe sediment at the bottom of -the boiler is blown off through theblowoft pipe without passing through the grate, substantially as setforth.

7. In a grate, the combination, with tubular grate-bars, of hollowsectional end bearing bars connecting said tubular bars, the sectionsfor said end bars being bolted together, supply-pipe connections withvalves, as shown, between the bottom of the boiler and the inlet-pipe ofthe grate, valved pipe connections between the outlet end or pipe of thegrate and the top of the boiler, and a blow-pipe with valve for thegrate and boiler, substantially as set forth.

S. In a grate, the combination, with tubular grate-bars, of hollowsectional end bearingbars connecting said tubular bars, the sections forsaid end bars being bolted together, pipe connection with cut-off andcheck Valves, arranged, as shown, between the inlet end of the grate andthe bottom of the boiler, a supply-pipe with check-Valve and a blow-pipewith cut-off connected to said pipe connection, and a pipe connectionwith cut-off valves between the outlet end of the grate and the top ofthe boiler, substantially as set forth.

esence of two witnesses.

JAMES REAGAN. Witnesses:

M. F. HALLECK, FRANKLIN MOORE.

